This sounds like another option to keep on my back burner. It is great that people post things that are working or not working for them. It helps one decide what might be good to work at when things take a turn as they always do with Fibro.

There are too many inaccuracies in fantod's post to count, it also sounds suspiciously like an advertisement and many of his/her words are exact quotes from the manufacturer's website. First of all corticosteroid injections are aqueous and can easily be given through a 32 gauge needle (which is about the smallest needle you've ever seen) same as Sarapin so forget the garbage about cortisone injections needing a larger needle. Also, Sarapin reportedly has no side effects, well that is great but does it have any positive effects. Water has no side effects but it is not going to help your knee arthritis pain either. I'm increasingly happy that my patients are looking for medical information on the web but also increasingly sad to see they are getting advice from blogs like this which is full of misleading, inaccurate and sometimes idiotic information. If you want information that is based on medical data use something like mayoclinc.com where they talk about everything from Aloe to zinc including things like marijuana. The fact that Sarapin is not listed anywhere on the site means there is nothing to discuss (no data to refer to). In school we learn about how to measure the importance/significance of research. The best studies are double blinded, placebo controlled, randomized studies, the worst form of evidence is anecdotal (essentially what a blog is). Here is the best study available to answer your questions about Sarapin check out w w w. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16868612 where they did over 800 injections and there was no difference whether Sarapin was used or not used. The fact is that there is a large placebo effect (usually about 30% with pills and greater with procedures). You can get a 50ml vial of Sarapin for about $40 which should be enough for 10-20 injections. Since your insurance won't pay for it you are likely paying cash for this stuff. So why is your doctor charging you so much for what only costs him $2-4? He/She is likely preying on your beliefs that "all natural is best" and making a good living off of the new trend of people who hate to take medications but will gladly pay $100 a month for Vitamins A-Z and anything that is a root or comes from a tree. Coumadin (warfarin) was initially discovered when cows in Wisconsin ate from a certain bush and then they bled to death. All natural does not = all good. Good luck deciding what to do but don't fall victim to the poor logic and lack of information on Sarapin. Personally I'll wait until there is any medical evidence available to support it, so far only reports that it does nothing. I'll let someone else be a guinea pig, but not my family or my patients.